Conditioning metal stock



'CONDITIONING METAL lSTOCK Filed Aug. 30, 1937 EYAWT fQA/N/ TEE,

@IZ/MMM Patented Feb. 28., 1939 PATENT OFFICE CONDITIONING METAL STOCK Bryant Bannister, Mount Lebanon, Pa., assign- `or to National Tube Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 30, 1937, Serial No. 161,649

vcomms. (c1. zii-33)l 'I'his invention relates to a method and appa ratus for conditioning metal stock.

In the manufacture of many .steel products such as pipe, sheets and wire, it is necessary to remove a thin layer of metall from the semiflnished metal stock, commonly referred to as billets, blooms or slabs, before rolling or forging to final shape. This procedure is essential as it is necessary to remove the numerous slight seams, scabs and other surface imperfections from the semi-nished material in order to obtain defect-free surfaces on the finished product. This removal of the' thin layer from the metal stock is generally known as"conditioning and the apparatus as a peeler. It is customary. to perform this.y operation on the material while it is cold; that is, at approximately atmospheric temperature. f

It is obvious that this procedure entails a sel rious loss of sensible heat since, after conditioning, the metal lstock mus be again heated to forging temperature, whe eas if the, conditioning were not required, or could be performed on hot metal, the sequence of rolling operations '25 could be uninterrupted and this loss of heat avoided. It is equally obvious that a considerable expenditure of energy andv labor is involved in performing this separate operation.

It is accordingly an object of' the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for conditioning metal stock.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved methodv and apparatus for conditioning heated metalstock. i

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for conditioning metal stock while it is being processed in a rolling mill.

'I'he foregoing and further objects will be ap- 40 parent after referring to the drawing in which:

liiigure 1 is a planof the apparatus of the inven on;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the.

line II-II o'f Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a working diagram.

Referring more particularly to the drawing wherein, for the purpose of illustration, my ini-'- proved method and apparatus for conditioning metal stock is shown as applied to a rotary blooming mill: In this type of apparatus a cylindrical ingot A is processed by a pair of rotary rolls Bl which reducf/ the ingot A to a suitable slze for subsequent processing operations. In practice the ingot A is heated to aY suitable forging temperature of about 2100 to2400 degrees Fahrenheit before introduction into the pass of the rolls B. The rolls B, While rotating and feeding the ingot A forwardly, reduce its diameter to a size suitable for piercing and conversion into seamless pipe. After leaving the rolls B the-work-piece A is severed into desired lengths by av conventional hot-saw (not shown) and, according to the usual practice, resulting billets or rounds are then allowed to cool to atmospheric temperature whereupon 10 they are prepared for further processing to convert them into seamless pipe by "peeling the outer surface therefrom to insure a defect-free surface in the finished product. 'Ihe ybillets are then reheated to a forging temperature and con- 15 verted into seamless pipe by conventional piercing and rolling practice.

In accordance with the teachings of my invention the heated work-piece A, as it emerges from the blooming rolls B, is conditioned for 20 further processing by removing its outer surface and without any sensible loss of heat. The reduced work-piece then passes to the hot-saws and from thence to the piercers in a continuous operation without allowing the billets to cool, 25 thereby entailing a big saving in the time and expense ordinarily required for reheating them -to forging temperature.

The numeral 2 designates the novel workpiece surface-conditioning device or billet-peel- 30 er of my invention. This comprises a housing 3 in which is reciprocably mounted, on slideways 4 in a housing 5, a motor 6 adapted to drive a substantially vertical shaft 'l carrying a disk or cutting member 8. The disk 8, which ro- 35 tates in a generally horizontal plane, has a cutting ledge 9 that may be continuous or serrated in the manner of a milling cutter and is positioned by means of an automatic feed device I0 with its cutting edge in engagement with the 40 helically advancing work-piece A so asv to obtain the depth of cut desired, which is generally about an eighth of an inch. The automatic feed device I0 isv mounted in the housing 3 and is connected to the housing 5 by means of a piston- 45 rod I2 carrying a Piston I3 adapted to reciprocate in a cylinder Il. The limit of travel of the piston I3 toward the work-piece A- is limited by an adjustable gland-nut l5. The piston I3 is reciprocated in the cylinder I 4 by means of 50 uid under pressure delivered thereto from a suitable source of supply through a pipe I6, twoway valve I1, and pipes I8 and I9.

In the usual working position, fluid under pressure will be admitted tothe cylinder I4 through 55 the pipes I6 and I8 and valve I1 and exhausted `from the opposite side through the pipe I9 and in case the work-piece A, delivered by the rolls B,

should happen to be cobbled or warped.

In operation, the disk 8 isrotated by the motor nIi at such speed that the duration of contact with the hot metal of any portion of the cutting edge 9 is a small fraction of a second. By so regulating the speed of rotation of the disk 8 the cutting surface 9 is prevented from becoming overheated by its frictional engagement with the metal and because of the high temperature to which the Work-piece is heated, which is approximately 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. The diameter of the disk 8 is such that the width of cut is considerably more than the advance of the Workpiece A per revolution, as is shown in Figure 3 of .the drawing. Consequently any portion of the cutting edge is in contact with Athe metal of the work-piece for only a small part of a revolution of the disk 8.

Normally the cutting edge 9 will cool during the time it is not engaging the metal of the workpiece. However, for certain kinds of metal it may be necessary to supply a cooling agent to the cutting edge 9, which can be done by means of the' spray-head 22 shown on Figure 2 o f the drawing. Water or other suitable cooling medium from a suitable source of supply may be delivered onto the edge 9 through the spray-head 22.

A pair of guide-disks C may be provided for steadying the work-piece A and, in addition, co-

operate with the rolls B to helically advance it.

The combination of a rotating disk and the relative longitudinal movement of the rotating work-piece with respect to the rotating disk provides the essential elements for the successful functioning of my device and method for condi tioning metal stock. No portion of the cutting edge is in contact with the m'etal long enough to reach an objectionably high temperature and between heating contacts there is suiicient time to cool the cutting edge effectively. Also, the rotation of the disk provides a true cutting or slicing action instead of a substantially plain shearing action that would occur if the disk were sta-v tionary. This is a definite advantage as it is much more satisfactory to slice a plastic material ,such as steel" and particularly hot steel than it is to shear it.

While I have shown and described a specic embodiment of my invention it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto but various modifications ymay be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for conditioning metallic blanks comprising, in combination, a plurality of metal working rolls which are constructed and arranged to helically advance a work-piece, and at least one rotatable disk having a cutting edge constructed and arranged to remove the outer surface of said work-piece as it is helically advanced by said metal-working rolls.

2. Apparatus for conditioning metallic blanks comprising, in combination, a plurality of metalworking rolls which are constructed and arranged to helically advance a work-piece, and at least one rotatable cutting member having an annular cutting edge disposed adjacent said metal-working rolls, said rotatable cutting member being disposed to present a' portion of its cutting edge to the outer surface of the work-piece and adapted to remove the outer surface of the said Work-piece as it is helically advanced by said metal-working rolls.

BRYANT BANNIS'IER. 

